“He was a man of power.” What Vladimir Churov will remember

Former Chairman of the Central Election Commission Vladimir Churov died March 22 in Moscow at the age of 71. He was born in Leningrad and from 1991 to 2003. worked in the committee on foreign relations of the administration of St. Petersburg, five years of them – under the leadership of Vladimir Putin.

In March 2007, he was delegated to the CEC from the Liberal Democratic Party, became the head of the commission and held presidential elections in 2008 and 2012, State Duma elections in 2011. And in 2016 he gave way to Ella Pamfilova, who had previously been the Commissioner for Rights person.

In recent years, Churov was the Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry and oversaw the monitoring of elections to government bodies in foreign countries. Farewell to him will pass March 24 at 11.00 at the Federal War Memorial Cemetery in Mytishchi.

Vedomosti asked the experts what role Churov played in the development of the modern electoral system in Russia and how they remember him.

Political scientist Mikhail Vinogradov:

“This is a symbolic figure. He was the frontman of the electoral system, the man who really pressed all the buttons and built the system. Therefore, when it was necessary, he attracted negative moments. When the electoral system became the cause and cause of public anger and irritation. At the same time, he himself was not symmetrical to the scale of his reputation, he existed in a more relaxed mode.

Is Churov more of an official than a politician? I think yes. This allowed critics of the system to demonize the CEC, although, probably, the key questions on the reliability of voting arose around the activities of territorial and regional commissions. As a symbol, he was probably understandable and somewhat freaky, but at moments of concentration of public negativity, he averted anger from other people.

Churov was too colorful to be unnoticed.

Political scientist Yevgeny Minchenko:

“I have several memories connected with Vladimir Churov. In particular, he once said that all the wars in the world will stop when the last political strategist dies. And I even suggested starting a criminal case under Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for inciting hatred towards a professional group. Then he apologized, we shook hands.

But in general, he had an attitude towards his work as the work of an official. Not as the work of the head of an independent body, but as an absolutely bureaucratic job. [Как к роли чиновника], which moves in line with the instructions of the authorities, and he spoke about this in plain text. And as a person, he was quite benevolent.”

Political scientist Alexei Makarkin:

“Role [Чурова] was instrumental. In those years, in fact, he accompanied the process of transition of the electoral system into a managed channel. And in fact, he did not come up with big initiatives, but accompanied this process. He also took on the fire of criticism.

He was called a magician (as President Dmitry Medvedev called him in 2011 – Vedomosti), given his unusual appearance for modern Russian politics. But his role was not so great. Churov retired, but the practices associated with his name remained.

His departure was received with enthusiasm, but in practice it was not in Churov, but in the political system, which after his departure became even stronger.

Chairman of the State Duma Committee for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, Russian presidential candidate from the Communist Party in 2004 Nikolai Kharitonov:

“Many parties then (during the leadership of the CEC by Churov – Vedomosti) were dissatisfied with the quality of summarizing and monitoring the elections. There were many contradictions and disagreements with local election commissions. At the same time, he was a decent diplomat. Any critical step, any remark was always deciphered. No wonder he was put on the Central Election Commission, it was a difficult time. He respected the role of a state official, tried to serve with dignity.